"Her or me?" A tear rolled down Michelle's puffy cheek, "You have to make a decision."
For Michelle, life has always been about control-control in the studio, in her friendships, and even in the secrets she hides. But with an unexpected pregnancy...
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"See you next week!" I say, waving goodbye to the last baby ballet dancer to be collected her their parents.
Emily is making me teach their classes while Michelle is away. Truthfully, I think that she just likes having me around. I catch her looking at me from her office now and again. I don't mind the attention though; I actually quite like it.
I close the door to Studio A before walking straight into the office.
"That's all of them." I announce "Finally! I can relax!"
Emily looks over at me. "Don't you have homework to do this weekend?"
"Yeah, I just don't do it..." I smirk.
"You know you'll get in trouble." She warns me, "You're already behind in three of your classes."
"It doesn't matter; I'll catch up. Plus, I only have one year left of college, then I'm finally free to do whatever I want." I say, "Anyway, when did you care that much about me?"
Emily looks over at me, a small smile on her face. She then goes back to typing on her laptop, not replying to me.
"What are you doing on there?" I ask her.
"Looking for costumes. You wouldn't believe how expensive they are nowadays. Unfortunately, I don't get paid enough to afford these prices."
"We just need costumes that will make us stand out at International; they don't need to be so pricey." I tell her, trying to make her feel better about it.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I just want everything to be perfect this year."
"I know and it will be." I say, smiling at her.
All of a sudden, the door to the studio swings open, and in walks a man carrying a large box. Emily and I both turn our heads to look.
"Costumes, Emily." He announces, talking about what's in those boxes.
Emily shouts over to him, "Just leave them at the door, I'll bring them in in a minute!"
"Alright." He smiles before walking off.
Immediately, Emily gets up from her seat and walks over to where he left all of the boxes of costumes.
I'm assuming they're for the younger dancers, as they have their recital next month. We, on the other hand, have to wait until the week before internationals before trying on costumes. Everything is always last minute here.
She takes a second to look at the boxes before attempting to pick one up to take it into the office.
"Here, I'll do it." I stop her. "You go and sit down and finish looking for those costumes."
She pauses, looking almost shocked that I would offer to help.
"A- are you sure?"
I smile "Yeah, of course I am. Just go and relax; you look like you need it."
"Fine. Just don't hit any of the trophies with those."
"I won't." I roll my eyes playfully.
I watch as Emily walks back into the office and I take a second to look at her. I sigh quietly, thinking about how she'll never see how much I care about her.
I lied to Lily and Piper yesterday in the locker room... I know everything about Emily's sexuality and her relationship with Michelle, but I promised that I would never tell anyone that they've gotten back together. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only person that Emily has ever told.
"Hurry up!" Emily gestures for me to bring the boxes in. "Are you just gonna stand there?"
"Oh, sorry."
I bring in all of the boxes before standing beside Emily's desk.
"They're all in." I tell her whilst catching my breath.
"Good." She nods.
"Is there anything else you want me to do before I head home?" I ask her, wanting to be useful.
She lifts her head to look at me. "Actually, no. I'm practically done myself. Thanks for bringing in the boxes, though. I'll go through them all tomorrow."
"Are you sure there's nothing else I can do for you?"
She takes a second before shaking her head. "Uhm... no."
I smirk, "How about I buy you a coffee?"
She shakes her head, a small smile on her face. "Like I said, I'm ready to go."
"One to take home?" I insist on buying her one. "Come on, you never say no to a coffee, especially a free one!
She rolls her eyes, giving in. "Okay, okay! But be quick; I don't want to be waiting all day for you to get your ass back up here. The coffee will end up being cold, and you'll make my day a hundred times worse!"
I practically jump with excitement. "Okay, I won't be long! Five minutes, alright?!"
"Five minutes." She repeats.
I walk away slowly before stopping in the doorway to take a look at Emily again. I bite my lip slightly, trying to contain how happy she makes me.
She notices that I still haven't left the room. "I mean it, Summer. If you're not back in five minutes, then I'm gone! Your money will be wasted because I know for a fact that you don't drink coffee!"
"Okay, okay! I'm going!" I laugh.
I hang around for a few more seconds, and she widens her eyes in disbelief.
"Go!" She shouts, and I giggle as I finally run off.
Things have been like this for a while between Emily and I. We have a really strong friendship, but she doesn't let anyone else see that. I'm guessing that she doesn't want people making assumptions. I just hope that she's not embarrassed about being friends with me.
Although I'm one of her dancers, I'm an adult now, and we shouldn't have to hide our friendship.
